Talk:Schuylkill Branch

The statement "The line remains intact from Gibraltar, Pennsylvania at Gibraltar Road/PA Route 724 to Birdsboro, Pennsylvania. " is incorrect. The rail line that is in place there on the west bank of the Schuylkill is the ex-Reading line, it is a continuation of the former branch line from Reading to Wilmington, DE, which is now abandoned south of Birdsboro. The PRR Schuylkill Branch is abandoned between Gibraltar and Birdsboro and part of it has been made part of the Schuykill River trail.

Also in addition to the intact segments listed, there is a piece of track still in place in Pottstown, PA.Chipkraft (talk) 17:37, 3 November 2021 (UTC)

Schuylkill Valley Metro "facts"?
No sources cited for what is written. Can't find any verification of intent to reactivate the Schuylkill Branch past Ivy Ridge for a Philadelphia-Reading commuter service. Can someone provide sources, or can we put that down to rail buff rumor/pipedream fantasy?

71.241.70.24 (talk) 02:24, 2 November 2010 (UTC)


 * What is written is that SVM "would have used the ex-PRR/Penn Central tracks from 52nd Street to Ivy Ridge," not what you said above. seems to be the best website to source SVM-related material at present. Choess (talk) 02:33, 2 November 2010 (UTC)


 * That source is dead. What we need is a station list. -User:DanTD (talk) 11:55, 21 July 2013 (UTC)

Line names
Strictly speaking, the Schuylkill Secondary and Schuylkill Branch are separated but related lines. A PRR document from 1964 defines the former as Norristown–Hazleton and the latter as Norristown–Wynnefield (Valley, junction with Main Line). This division is reflected in the 1976 Conrail conveyance, although the division point has shifted east from Norristown to Manayunk. Near as I can tell, Conrail sells the Schuylkill Branch to SEPTA in 1979 under the 900-day option, retaining trackage rights and the Schuylkill Secondary, eventually redesignated the Phoenixville Branch/Secondary. Most of that is abandoned by 1982. Mackensen (talk) 16:29, 11 May 2022 (UTC)
 * That's a relatively late distinction; I don't think the PRR started designating some of its branches as "secondary tracks" until the 1950s or 1960s (the term is not in the 1951 rule book) and the 1945 C.T. 1000 designates the entire line from Valley to Hazleton as the "Schuylkill Branch". Given that the junction point between the two shifted over time (presumably to reflect the end of passenger service?) I think it makes sense for this article to take on the broader scope of the term. Choess (talk) 19:53, 11 May 2022 (UTC)
 * That's fair. My concern is simply that as written the article sort of implies that the line is fully abandoned, which isn't accurate. I'll tweak the language. Mackensen (talk) 00:11, 12 May 2022 (UTC)